Adjustable Helical Antenna with Rotating Support Disks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Helical antennas with fixed dimensions are limited in their operational flexibility, as they cannot adjust their height and pitch without risking deformation, which restricts their adaptability to different applications and environments.
Innovation Solution
An adjustable helical antenna design featuring a linear central support with rotatable and translatable support disks, along with constraint disks to maintain the helical arrangement, allows for changes in pitch and number of turns without deforming, enabling adaptable operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the antenna height is changed to adjust operational characteristics, then the pitch and number of turns can be changed, but the antenna elements may buckle or deform out of helical arrangement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements adjustable support disks that can move along the central axis and rotate around it, allowing the antenna height and pitch to be dynamically changed. This dynamic mechanism enables the antenna to adapt its operational characteristics while maintaining structural integrity through controlled movement rather than fixed rigid connections.
Solution Approach 2:
Constraint disks are introduced as intermediary elements between the support disks and antenna elements. These constraint disks prevent radial movement and buckling of the antenna elements while allowing axial translation and rotation, thereby mediating between the need for adjustability and the need to maintain helical arrangement stability.
2Ease of manufacture
If the antenna dimensions are fixed for manufacturing simplicity, then the antenna can be easily manufactured, but it cannot adapt to different applications and environments
Solution Approach 1:
The antenna is divided into modular components including multiple support disks, constraint disks, and antenna elements that can be independently manufactured and assembled. This segmentation allows each component to be produced with standard tolerances while the assembled structure provides adjustable functionality for different applications.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms a static fixed-dimension antenna into a dynamic adjustable antenna by incorporating movable support disks and constraint mechanisms. This dynamic design maintains manufacturing simplicity while enabling adaptation to various operational requirements through mechanical adjustment rather than complex custom manufacturing.
3Reliability
If the pitch is increased to improve radiation characteristics, then the directional radiation pattern is enhanced, but the antenna height must increase which limits compactness
Solution Approach 1:
The adjustable support disk mechanism allows the pitch to be optimized for specific radiation patterns while keeping the antenna compact by enabling precise control over the number of turns and pitch value. The dynamic adjustment capability allows users to achieve optimal radiation characteristics without permanently increasing the antenna's maximum height.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables change of geometric parameters (pitch, number of turns, height) through mechanical adjustment of the support disks. This parameter variability allows optimization of radiation patterns for different applications without requiring permanently larger antenna dimensions, as the same physical structure can be configured with different effective parameters.
Data Source
AI summary
An adjustable antenna is provided with a linear central support defining a helical axis, and first and second support disks extending radially outward from the central support. The support disks are rotatable around the central support and the second support disk is translatable along the linear central support. An antenna element is coupled to the first and second support disks to define a helical path around the central support between the first and second support disks. An adjustment component is capable of translating one of the first and second support disks along the linear central support and of rotating at least one of the support disks around the central support to change the helical pitch of the antenna element.